A nice little session that's one of Nat's last great vocal albums – thanks to some solid jazz backing by George Shearing. Shearing's group here is a super-hip west coast Latin one, with Emil Richards on vibes, Al Hendrickson on guitar, Al McKibbon on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums. Most tracks have them augmented by some larger backings by Ralph Carmichael – which creates this dreamy jazzy pillow for Nat to sing over. Cole's voice is still super-sweet and super-sexy, and the record is a good mix of ballads and more jazzy material. Titles include "Lost April", "Azure-Te", "September Song", "Don't Go", "There's A Lull In My Life", and "Serenata". LP, Vinyl record album

A lovely little tribute to one of our favorite songwriters of all time – the lyrical genius Tommy Wolf, whose compositions were first championed back in the 50s and 60s by Bob Dorough, Jackie & Roy, and Blossom Dearie! Wolf's got a wonderful way with a twist of a phrase – playful, but never too silly – just freshly original in a world of overdone standards, and a reminder that creative American songwriting didn't stop with Cole Porter and Harold Arlen! Bobbi's voice has a warmly sweet quality that makes for a slightly different approach to the material than others before her – and backing on the record is by a piano trio led and arranged by Chick Cicchetti. Titles include "There Are Days When I Don't Think Of You At All", "Say Cheese", "I'm Alright Til You Touch Me", "It's Nice Weather For Ducks", "You Smell So Good", "I've Never Been Anything", and "A Face Like Yours". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the straighter sessions ever recorded by vocalist Bobby Troup – an intimate quartet side, with backing by Howard Roberts on guitar, Bob Enevoldsen on bass, and Don Heath on drums. Bobby sings and plays piano – in that warm, laidback LA style that's made him one of our favorite male vocalists of the time – and he's less tongue-in-cheek here than on some of his other recordings, bringing a simple but honest presentation to material that includes "Have You Met Miss Jones", "It Still Suits Me", "Little Girl Blue", "You Are Too Beautiful", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and "The Boy Next Door". LP, Vinyl record album

Not a live album – as you might think from the title – but a tight batch of tunes that shows the full funk and soul talents of the legendary Esther Phillips! The album's got a nicely dark undercurrent at times – a sound that's not as smooth as some of Esther's other Kudu albums from the 70s, with bits of R&B bubbling underneath the more contemporary arrangements. Backings are penned by Pee Wee Ellis and Gary King – and players include Bob James and Richard Tee on keyboards, Hubert Laws on flute, and Bernard Purdie and Steve Gadd on drums – the latter of whom provides a sublime beat on the album's standout funky number "Disposable Society" – one of those great little groovers that never did anything for Esther at the time of its release, but which has really gotten rediscovered in recent years! Other tracks include "Doing Our Thing", "Living Alone", "Can't Trust Your Neighbor With Your Baby", and "I Feel The Same". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Sarah Vaughan's looking pretty groovy on the cover of this album, and she's sounding pretty groovy too – thanks to some sweet 70s backings from Ernie Wilkins! The style isn't exactly funky, but it's got some fully soulful sounds, and some great electric moments too – modes that almost feel more like some of the best Kudu Records vocal sets from the time, instead of the usual Mainstream Records groove. Sarah really fits well in this sort of setting – stretching out into groovier territory than before with the same sense of change that Ella Fitzgerald or Marlena Shaw were bringing to their music at the time. Players include Jerome Richardson on saxes, Buddy Childers on trumpet, Benny Powell on trombone, Jimmy Cobb on percussion, and Earl Palmer on drums – and titles include "Inner City Blues", "Magical Connection", "Universal Prisoner", "Tomorrow City", "That's The Way I've Always Heard It", "Imagine", "On Thinking It Over", and "If Not For You". LP, Vinyl record album

Arranged by Ralph Carmichael, with trumpet solos by Bobby Bryant! Includes Nat's classic reading of "LOVE", plus "Girl From Ipanema", "More", "Coquette", "Swiss Retreat", and "My Kind Of Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

Possibly one of the most essential Billie Holiday albums for Verve – a set that carries the same title as her famous autobiography, and which also features many key numbers from her songbook at the time! The feel here is quite easygoing and relaxed – with small group backing behind Billie's vocals, which themselves are recorded cleanly and clearly throughout. One side features backing by a combo that includes Wynton Kelly on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, and Paul Quinichette on tenor – and the other features a group that includes Bobby Tucker on piano, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Barney Kessel on guitar, and the great Willie Smith on alto sax. Titles include plenty of classics – including "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit", "Lady Sings The Blues", "No Good Man", "Good Morning Heartache", "I Must Have That Man", and "Trav'lin' Light". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty amazing set from Esther Phillips – her final album for Kudu – and a beautiful mix of soaring soul sounds from one the most unique, emotionally-inflected soul vocalists of her era! Esther's in prime Kudu mode here – working with jazzy arrangements by David Matthews and Pee Wee Ellis, adding her unique, grit-inflected soul chanteuse vocals to a smoother mix of instrumentation that creates a perfect counterpoint that took her way past her earlier work! There's also a couple of really sweet disco skewed numbers that work incredibly well – with spacier bits of synth and a dancefloor soul bed of percussion and rhythms – and in general, the arrangements are pretty great from track-to-track! Players include Randy Brecker and Mike Brecker on trumpet and tenor sax, Bray Miles on synthesizer, Bobby Lyle on clavinet, Eric Gale on guitar, Joe Farrell on tenor sax and alto flute, percussionist Ralph MacDonald and other excellent name musicians and others bring a grand sweep and sweeter intimacy when the mood requires. Titles include "Magic's In The Air", "A Beautiful Friendship", "Boy I Really Tied One On", "Higher & Higher", and "All The Way Down". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Smooth and sophisticated grooving from Esther Phillips – a record that really has her shaking off the rag-tag and rootsy modes of earlier years, and gliding sweetly into the mainstream! Phillips' vocals are still as soulful and compelling as ever, but the backings are quite full – penned by Joe Beck, who also plays a fair bit of guitar on the record too – and done with a sound that's in the same mode as David Matthews' backings for other Kudu sides of the time. There's a definite soul-heavy focus going on here – with some clubby touches too – and titles include "Caravan", "Fever", "Pure Natural Love", "Unforgettable", "For All We Know", "Fools Rush In", and "Going Out Of My Head". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A way hipper record than you'd guess from a group with a name like "Rare Silk" – and some of the best group jazz vocalese recorded in the 80s! The group is a quartet of voices – 3 female, 1 male – and they come together in a style that's far less hokey than most of the other practictioners of this mode at the time – a timeless sort of hipster approach that's really got a lot of the same sort of energy as Mark Murphy on Muse! Backing is small combo jazz on all numbers, with some really sweet keyboards on a few of the best tracks – and titles include versions of Flip Nunez's "Happying", Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay", Richie Cole's "New York Afternoon", Chick Corea's "Spain", Stanley Turrentine's "Sugar", and Eddie Harris' "You Know It's Wrong". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums from singer Teri Thornton – a jazz vocalist who was really starting to come into her own at the beginning of the 60s, and shines here in a way that's different from some of her bigger label sets! Backings are by Norman Simmons – a pianist we love on his own, and for his work in small groups with other singers – but a real surprise here for his work on the album's dark-tinged charts, which have a similar undercurrent of modernism to some of the work at the time by Abbey Lincoln. The group's relatively small – and features work by Seldon Powell on tenor, Clark Terry on trumpet, Earl Warren on alto, Freddie Green on guitar, and Wynton Kelly on piano – and titles include a version of Bob Dorough's "Devil May Care", plus dark takes on "My Old Flame", "Dancing In The Dark", "Left Alone", "What's New", and "Lullaby Of The Leaves". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare early material from singer Lee Wiley – pulled from a series of V-Disc recordings, with backing by the group of guitarist Eddie Condon! Players include Jack Teagarden on trombone, Bobby Hackett on trumpet, and Pee Wee Russell on clarinet. LP, Vinyl record album